December 6, 2008

Ray...30 years ago

Thirty years ago...1978...Ray Stevens releases the albums Be Your Own Best Friend and There Is Something On Your Mind. The album on top...the white album, you could say, is a very good album that simply got lost. The music is in step with the light pop sounds of the time period. There is no song on here that really screams out COUNTRY but yet the title track, "Be Your Own Best Friend", did hit the country charts. The song lyrics of all the songs are posted on the back of the album for fans to sing-a-long with. The album as I mentioned, is soft-rock/light pop...mellow. I'll go out on a limb and say that the only song on this collection that reaches a fever pitch...one that has a bit of a rocking sound...is "Comeback". The album kicks off with a very nice sing-a-long, "L'amour", which carries an international feel in it's musical delivery. Ray co-wrote this song with a man named Gilbert Becaud. This may be the song Ray once referred to when he spoke about an instrumental he heard while in England and he wanted to write words to it...the music certainly has a British over-tone, to my ears at least. When you hear it you may understand what I'm trying to say.

"Comeback" carries a rush of urgency...pretty much the only up-tempo/rocker driven song on the album. Ray tells us about how a relationship has ended and fills us in about how much she meant to him in spite of her leaving him...and all she has to do is comeback...come, come, come, comeback. "Daydream Romance" is an ultra-mellow love song...it tells the story of a musician on the road and thinking of the woman he's left at home. "With a Smile" carries a similar positive message that "Be Your Own Best Friend" carries...in "With a Smile" we hear Ray telling us how important it is to smile, no matter what you're saying, try a smile and when life makes you frown, "just take that frown, and turn it around". "Be Your Own Best Friend", meanwhile, tackles a similar message but in this song Ray tells us that it's okay to be your own judge and be your own person no matter what others may have to say and that only you are able to look after yourself because nobody else is going to. "You're Magic" is one of my favorites from the album. I love the arrangement, the melody, the lyrics...I wish it were released as a single or would have become something more well-known. "Two Wrong's Don't Make a Right" borrows the phrase passed down through the ages and transplants it into a love song setting about two people and how the woman likes to cheat but the man can't bring himself to go through with cheating on her...but as Ray says, "nothing's gained by revenge and spite", bringing us to the song's title.

"Hidin' Place" is a bluesy number to my ears. It's simply a song about getting away from it all with your lover/spouse and how just being together provides seclusion from the world. "You've Got the Music Inside" is a re-recording of a song he originally recorded in 1973 for his Nashville album. The 1973 version was performed slower and had a touch of drama whereas the 1978 re-recording is also recorded as a ballad but this time with a more smoother vocalization when compared to 1973. His voice had matured even more. "The Feeling's Not Right Again" is an unusual love song in that it tells about a couple who can't find the answers to whatever it is they are searching for...even though they seem to fit together, almost. "The Feeling's Not Right Again" is also unusal in that it became the name of his 1979 album...because it had a similar sounding title to a Barry Manilow song/album called "Trying To Get The Feeling"...so much so that Warner Brothers, the label Ray recorded for, parodied the Barry Manilow album in 1979. See my three Ray Stevens blog entries about the Barry Manilow parodies for more information.

The Be Your Own Best Friend album featured nine songs. It was very ballad heavy.

1. L'amour2. Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right3. You've Got the Music Inside4. Hidin' Place5. Be Your Own Best Friend6. The Feeling's Not Right Again7. Comeback8. You're Magic9. With a Smile

This album, There Is Something On Your Mind, was recorded in 1978 and it was Ray's labor of love...an album spotlighting the beloved R&B music he grew up listening to. The album is one of those under the radar releases that when you blink, you'll miss it. The material is all top-notch and covers plenty of R&B...material known today as classic R&B. One of the things you'll notice is Ray's expertise in R&B...his liner notes appear at the top of the album above the picture. On the back of the album he gives his thoughts on each and every performance. There are only eight selections on this album but the selections are rather lengthy, and that will perhaps make it feel like a typical 10-11 song album by the time you're through listening to it. First off, Ray's sandwiches nine R&B songs into three separate medleys.

"Dance Trilogy" features abbreviated performances of "Do You Wanna Dance?", "When You Dance", and "Save The Last Dance For Me". "Old Faithful Trilogy" features portions of "Shake a Hand", "Since I Met You Baby", and "Always". Then there is the adventurous "Banned In Boston Trilogy" which spotlights three abbreviated R&B songs that were banned on Boston radio stations: "Sixty Minute Man", "Work With Me Annie", and "Annie Had a Baby". Ray tells us on the back of the album that these songs were banned because the subject matter was considered too racy.

Aside from the three medleys/trilogies, we hear full performances of five R&B classics: "Money Honey", "Your Cash Ain't Nothin' But Trash", "Talk to Me", "One Mint Julep", and the title track, "There Is Something On Your Mind", which includes an audience background. Several of these recordings resurfaced in 1995 when Warner Brothers issued three compilation CD's on Ray: Cornball, The Serious Side of Ray Stevens, and Do You Wanna Dance? The recordings from this 1978 album that have yet to make their way onto CD are the title track and the medley of songs that were Banned in Boston.There's just so much Ray Stevens music the public at large just isn't aware of!!

The liner notes that appear above the picture go as follows:

"I'm not a nostalgia nut I guess, along with everyone else, I'm a little tired of hearing, with rare exception, nothing but parodies of the '50s music. True, a few of the hits deserve nothing but a tongue-in-cheek treatment, but then maybe every era is vulnerable to ridicule from somebody's point of view.

Be that as it may...I have had the desire to record some of the old '50s songs for sometime now minus the "grease" and "doo-wop"! A lot of the lyrics are still relevant and the idea's expressed poignant and communicative to any generation. I have tried to present this collection of "oldies" with as much sincere appreciation for merit as reality will allow.

I grew up with these songs and they played in the background of my formative years as a singer and musician. I like these songs. Some of the lyrics are not what you could call heavy but they translate into a feeling that reads between the lines...to me, anyway.

I recorded this album in my little studio in Nashville on 24 tracks using a few musicians that I have known and worked with for years." ========================================

The band accompaniment was sparse...no more than 7 separate musicians played on this album. The musicians for the most part played on all the songs with a few exceptions. Here is the musician list for this album...

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About Me

I'm a big fan of what's called classic country music. I love the HEE-HAW television program and I like watching vintage cartoons. I have four blogs...the main one is devoted to Ray Stevens. My Ray Stevens blog is written from a fan's perspective. The opinions and expressions discussed in this blog are of my own creation and should not be taken as representation of Ray Stevens and his office staff. I'm simply a dedicated, though opinionated, fan of Ray's who likes discussing his music and career. This fan-created blog page is something that I started when I got fed up with the lack of accurate information about Ray Stevens that was circulating on the internet.

2012

The Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music became available on February 28th; It's an impressive set featuring 9-CD's and a booklet; There are 108 recordings altogether and the booklet gives in-depth detail about each of the songs and their impact on society; Ray covers practically all the major comedy/novelty songs that have been recorded over the last 60 plus years; It's a marvelous collection!!

2014

Ray's memoir, Nashville, is a great book! If you don't have a copy I suggest you purchase one...any fan of Ray Stevens should get this book.

2016

Ray's recording, "Dear America", demonstrates that America is still the greatest country on Earth regardless of internal conflicts and imperfections; A loving tribute to the country and a defiant plea that the country's values and traditions should still continue to be championed and fought for; Excellent recording!

2017

Season One DVD of Ray's television series; It contains the first 13 episodes broadcast on local PBS stations from earlier this year; These episodes originally aired on RFD-TV but they were repeated on PBS stations starting this past January; Some local PBS stations aired all 26 episodes from the RFD run while other local PBS stations aired the first 13 episodes and then began airing the PBS exclusives which became available over the summer months; Future DVD releases are expected.

2017

Season Two of the Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville series; This volume consists of episodes guest starring the likes of Bill Anderson, Con Hunley, Williams and Ree, Leroy Van Dyke, and many more!! A perfect companion to Season One; Each season contains 13 half hour episodes.

2018

The Ray Stevens CabaRay Showroom officially opened to the public on January 18, 2018; This date is signifcant in the career of Ray Stevens in that it's the date he arrived in Nashville in 1962; The facility houses an entire array of entertainment from the main showroom to a piano bar, a gift shop, and it also houses his recording studios for audio and video productions; The upcoming Sixth Season of his PBS television series, CabaRay Nashville, is being taped at the showroom; These episodes represent the first to be taped at the venue.